Mewis nets winner for Breakers

For the second time this season Kristie Mewis scored the lone goal for the Breakers as the club extended their unbeaten streak at home to five straight in a 1-0 win over FC Kansas City.

Mewis broke the scoreless match in the 51st minute. After Katie Schoepfer intercepted a pass intended for Erika Tymrak, she fed Mewis at the top of the 18-yard-box. Mewis fired a strike into the top right corner past Kansas City goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart.

Boston nearly took the lead in the eighth minute, when Julie King’s header off a corner kick was blocked on the line by Kansas City’s defense.

“I thought we were dangerous on set pieces. I thought we really should have converted, and I thought we were really dangerous on the corner kicks,” Breakers head coach Tom Durkin said.

King had another great chance in the 18th minute capitalizing on a Kansas City turnover at the edge of the box, but her strike at goal was stopped by Barnhart. Durkin praised his club’s attacking mindset.

“The attacking movements were really good, the pressing was good, the passing sequences were good,” Durkin said. “We penetrated way more than we did in the last game.”

Stephanie McCaffery also had a decent go at goal but was stopped by Barnhart. Mewis fired the rebound towards the net but Barnhart managed to palm the shot over the crossbar to keep the Blues in the match.

“It would have been nice to score a few more goals, and that was our aim,” Durkin said. “We wanted to win this game, 4-0, and I think we could have done it.”

Kansas City’s best chance of the night came four minutes after Mewis’ winning goal. Tymrak’s strike from close range was deflected by Breakers goalkeeper Jami Kranich and went out of play for a corner.

The Blues’ offense continued their stagnant play this season throughout the match, as the club was only able to fire three shots on goal compared to Boston’s 11. Making only three saves in the victory, Kranich recorded her second straight shutout of the season and has only allowed one goal in her last 270 minutes.

With the victory the Breakers move up to third place in the league table. Boston will look to continue to raise up the standings June 6 when they travel to the Washington Spirit. Kansas City will look to rebound and get their offense on track when they face the Portland Thorns on June 19th after a two-week World Cup break.